Benchmark Indices Edge Lower In Early Trade

The benchmark indices started on a weak note in the early morning trade. The 30 share Sensex dipped down by 102 points to 26978 while 50-share Nifty was down by 40 points to 8081. However, the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices were seen trading in a positive zone. The BSE mid-cap index was up by 0.21% and the small-cap index was up by 0.46%. The indices are likely to remain volatile ahead of September expiry of F&O.

Tracking the momentum of the sectoral indices, all the indices were seen trading in a negative zone. However, the BSE consumer durable index was the only index which was seen trading in green, up by 1.30%. The gainers in today's trade included Hero Motocorp and Tata Motors which were seen trading up by 1.64% and 1.60% respectively. PNB was trading up by 1.39% after the board of the bank approved a five for one stock split through QIP. The losers in today's trade included DrReddy’s Lab and Cipla which were trading down by 2.12% and 2% respectvely. Hotel Leelaventure dipped by nearly 6% after the company announced that it has missed paying interest on a loan from LIC from past three quarters.

Further a weak trend was seen in the Asian markets, all the indices were seen trading in red. Japan's Nikkei was down by 0.79%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down by 1.33% and China's Shanghai was down by 1.48%.